Retrospective Analysis of Nasal Fractures in the Emergency Clinic

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze the demographic and diagnostic characteristics of patients presenting to the emergency clinic with nasal trauma. Material and Methods: Data analysis was performed with imaging tests on the files of 77 patients presented to the emergency clinic between 2012 and 2013. Results: In order of prevalence, nasal fractures were caused by falls from heights, violence, trauma, sports injuries and traffic accidents. Physical examination findings in patients with nasal fracture were sensitivity, nose swelling, nasal mucosal hemorrhage and septal deviation. Fracture was also determined at physical examination in 26 (86.6%) of the 30 patients with fracture detected at tomography. In the analysis, approximately 26% were multiple depressed fractures, while linear fracture along a single line was determined in 31%, with fissure-type fracture in the remaining 43%. Pathologies such as septal edema or hemorrhage were present in 30 of the 77 patients, while the septum was mobile and dislocated in approximately 16 of these patients (33.7%). Conclusion: Falls from heights were the most common cause in patients with nasal fracture, and although the most common imaging technique employed was x-ray, tomography provided more detailed information concerning rhinorrhea, smell perception disorders, maxillofacial traumas and multiple nasal fractures. (JAEM 2014; 13: 139-42)